No exceptions are foreseen in a law mandating the obligatory installation of electronic transaction terminals (POS) by businesses and self-employed professionals by a July 27 deadline, with the measure also covering several professional castes, such as physicians, lawyers and civil engineers.
The latest legal challenge to the measure, which is aimed at curbing rampant tax evasion in the country, was deflected, as attorneys and law firms are included. The Athens Bar Association – the biggest in the country – had filed a motion with an independent watchdog authority, officially known as the Hellenic Data Protection Authority (HDPA), in a bid to exclude its members from having to install terminals.
According to sources at the finance ministry this week, a ruling by the independent authority stated that the installation of the electronic payment terminals at law offices does not contravene the basic protections offered for a citizen’s personal data.
One point made by the Bar association is that attorneys’ clients aren’t consumers, something that finance ministry officials said is a matter for the independent authority to consider.
Currently, any fees and remuneration owed to law firms and individual attorneys in the country exceeding 500 euros must be paid via bank transfers.
No less than 85 business sectors, which had previously received extensions or exclusions from the measure, must now install terminals by the deadline.
The initial fine for failure to adhere to the provision is 1,500 euros.
